We first heard of the possibility of an Arrested Development movie about eight months ago, when Jeffrey Tambor and Jason Bateman confirmed that talks for the film were in progress. Then this past June, Bateman discussed the film with MTV, saying:

We all want to do it. All the actors want to do it, the writers want to do it, and the boss wants to do it. And they are working on making a deal, probably as we speak. But it’s a long, sort of drawn-out, complicated business process. ‘Arrested Development’ is such a specific tone, it doesn’t lend itself to mass appeal, as played out by the fact that it’s canceled. So it has to be done for a price. They can’t spend the money they spent on ‘Hancock.’

Bateman also said that Hurwitz was developing a story that “would not be just simply the equivalent of four episodes back to back to back. It’s actually something that would be specific to the medium of film.”

However, in a recent interview with the National Post to promote Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Michael Cera was asked about the status of the movie. According to the Post, Cera “hasn’t heard of any plans for an Arrested Development film.” Cera went on to say:

I don’t think I would want to see a movie of the series if I was a fan, anyway…And I don’t really see a need for it if you can get the three seasons on DVD.

It’s possible that Cera was never involved in early talks or wasn’t going to be in the movie at all, but that would seem to contradict Bateman’s comment about everyone being on board. It seems UNlikely to me that Cera wouldn be interested in participating in a film whose TV predecessor helped propel him to stardom, so if he is unaware of plans then things really might not be as far along as we’d hoped. [sorry for the typo - now fixed in bold]

Aside from that, it’s clear that Michael Cera is an extraordinarily poor judge of the rabidness of Arrested Development fans, who continuously demand more of their favorite sitcom of all time in whatever form possible. I’m a huge fan and evangelist of the show and I was incredibly excited when the possibility of a movie first hit the web. However, I feel like the longer this protracted process takes, the more likely that the collective enthusiasm behind an Arrested Development film will wane. This new info from Cera certainly doesn’t raise my hopes that the film will happen anytime soon.

Discuss: Are Arrested Development fans still interested in seeing an AD movie? Or is it possible to have too much of a good thing?

via Filmjunk